The Grill on the Hill at Green Hill Golf Course in Worcester is open for the season, serving diners from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.

The pub-style restaurant with full liquor license seats about 40 inside, and more than 75 on the outside deck. A function room accommodates 80 people.

It's the perfect setting, especially if you're looking for a casual place to meet friends and grab a bite to eat.

Diners have a terrific view of the golf course, nearby pond and surrounding woodlands. You can't beat it.

The Grill on the Hill is leased and operated by Savvas Fotiadis and his wife, Janet Fotiadis. Savvas Fotiadis and family members own and operate the Draught House Bar & Grill and The Manor Banquet Facility in West Boylston.

General manager Richard Beams assists Janet Fotiadis in the operation of the Grill on the Hill, which opens in late May and closes in late fall.

For general information and reservations, call (508) 854-1704. To book a special party or function at the restaurant, call Janet Fotiadis, (508) 873-1346.

Andy Luzi is chef at Grill on the Hill. He has worked at The Manor for 10 years.

The menu this season includes daily specials, salads, flat bread pizzas, sandwiches and Panini options, burgers and Green Hill Favorites such as seafood platters, BBQ baby back ribs, honey mustard chicken, stuffed peppers, Green Hill sirloin and eggplant Parmigiana. There also is a kid's menu.

The restaurant offers live entertainment on the deck from 6 p.m. to sunset, Thursday through Saturday, weather permitting.

"People who see the view from the restaurant for the first time always comment that they can't believe they are in Worcester,' said Janet Fotiadis. "It's breathtaking, especially at sunset."

Fotiadis explained that one of the biggest celebrations at the restaurant would be during Worcester's fireworks display on July 3. "We don't accept reservations, but we pack the house because this property is one of the best places in the city to view the fireworks," she said.

Grill on the Hill is located at 1929 Skyline Drive, with access from Belmont Street in Worcester. Visit www.grill-on-the-hill.com for more information.

Enjoy the view!

The Webster House Restaurant, 1 Webster St., Worcester, is closed.

Owners Jo-Ann Woupio-Gaboury of Paxton and her husband, Paul A. Gaboury, have leased the property and operated the restaurant for almost five years, having bought the business from Chris and Helena Liazos, who owned it for 40 years.

"The building has been sold," said Woupio-Gaboury in a telephone interview earlier this week.

She said the people who had booked parties at the restaurant have been contacted, and "deposits were returned."

"It was very emotional having to close the doors," said Woupio-Gaboury, "and when word got out, we were bombarded this weekend by people calling and dropping by the restaurant. We closed on Sunday."

Woupio-Gaboury said she believes that "when one door closes, another opens." Right now, she said she hasn't any future plans, but looks forward to "time off."

Woupio-Gaboury was an employee of the Webster House Restaurant for 35 years, starting as a waitress and host and as manager before she purchased the business.

During the holiday seasons, especially at Thanksgiving, the Webster House sold hundreds of pies, a practice that began under the ownership of Chris and Helena Liazos.

Stacks of pies filled the kitchen and lined the counters at the restaurant. It was a sight to see, and the pie makers created a variety of delicious desserts.

Woupio-Gaboury said, "I still have all the recipes."

I know a lot of diners share wonderful memories of wine dinners and other special occasions spent at the restaurant.

It was a Worcester landmark.

The Jenkins Inn & Restaurant, 7 West St., Barre, will have three-course dinner specials on Thursday evenings in June, July and August.

The cost will be $22 per person. Call (978) 355-6444 for information and reservations; www.jenkinsinn.com.

In addition to the Thursday specials, the restaurant's regular menu also will be available.

A summer special: $5 margarita.

Skyline Bistro at Worcester Technical High School in Worcester will close for the season June 6.

There's a new entertainment venue in Fitchburg. Backstreets Pub, 14 Mill St., Fitchburg, held its grand opening last weekend.

Backstreets, owned by Edward and Michael Kelly of Kelbro LLC, is located in the building that previously housed The Wine Cellar. There is indoor and outdoor seating. Acoustic and DJ entertainment is offered Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.

The business has a full liquor license. In addition, patrons can order from nearby eateries that include Chaibo, Mike's Pizza & More, Fitchburg Jade and Hong Kong Café. The businesses will deliver food to Backstreets, according to the owners.

Call (978) 345-0758 for more information.

Stanley J. Nicas, executive chef and owner of the Castle Restaurant in Leicester died May 25.

His obituary appeared May 29 in the Telegram & Gazette. If you haven't read it, visit www.telegram.com, for an update on his life, written so eloquently by his daughter, Evangeline H. Nicas, and his son, James S. Nicas. Stanley's other son, John S. Nicas, an executive chef, passed in 2005. Helen K. Nicas, his beloved wife of 56 years, died in 2004.

I had the privilege to know Stanley, a friendship that began when I first became food editor of the Telegram & Gazette. I continued to be in contact with him in my present "semi-retirement."

I should say he kept in contact with me.

He often called, and in a voice that couldn't be mistaken for anyone else, he would begin, "It's Stanley Nicas, or, "Hi, Barbara, It's Stan. Stanley Nicas."

The call would usually be about judging an event, a chef he was entertaining at the restaurant, or a visiting chef at Johnson & Wales University in Providence. He would always preface the conversation, "I know you will enjoy this chef's program, and you don't want to miss it." He then would tell me all about the chef.

He amazed me with stories about his "Navy days," or noted chefs he knew in the United States and Europe. His memories of people and events were impeccable. His culinary knowledge couldn't be disputed.

Stanley was a mentor for the many men and women who took part in his apprenticeship program at the Castle Restaurant, and he also worked closely with Johnson & Wales University and the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y. for more than 40 years.

The chef was a fixture at local fundraisers in and out of the city. You couldn't miss him in his whites, tall chef's hat, and the gold medals that hung around his neck. If he wasn't cooking, he was talking.

He often judged local food competitions, and his daughter said he was sorry that he couldn't make the 2014 Team Chef Competition, a fundraiser for the culinary arts scholarship program at Tantasqua Regional High School in Sturbridge that took place in May.

In previous years, he had been a judge. I also judged the competition, and I sometimes drove him home after the event. Home was always the Castle Restaurant. During the drive, he would fill me in on what was going on at the restaurant, etc. There were always updates on his grandchildren and times spent at his home on Cape Cod.

"We've got a big party at the restaurant tonight, and I have to help out," he would say as he exited the car.

He worked in the kitchen at the Castle until his death at 91.

There are many local chefs and restaurateurs who are members of the New England Chapter of Les Amis d'Escoffier Society, founded by Stanley J. Nicas.

A fellow chapter member sent me an email this week: "The loss of Stanley Nicas has really been on my mind. He was such a well-respected chef in our community. He will be missed by so many of us."

Stanley touched many lives, in and out of the food industry. He was an extraordinary man.

We'll miss him, but we won't forget what he brought to the table.

If you have a tidbit for the column, call (508) 868-5282. Send email tobhoulefood@gmail.com.

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